A New World
by Concolor44
Summary: Starfire has a lot of things to learn about this new planet she finds herself on, some of them very pleasant, others ... well ...
1. Sunset

**A New World**

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_I've read several truly excellent stories lately that explored facets of Starfire's character that don't usually get much screen time in your average example of fan-fiction. This is what my Muse did with the distilled experience. It will be at least two chapters, and probably more._

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Five days had sped by since the defeat of the Gordanian force that had (foolishly) attempted to recapture the strange and powerful alien girl that the others had come to know as Starfire.

Victor Stone, as it happened, was not only something of an electronics prodigy, he also had access to a great deal of money through his father, Silas. A noted S.T.A.R. Labs scientist, he had several dozen patents in his name and had secured a somewhat embarrassingly large income thereby. The elder Stone was overjoyed when his son contacted him, as they had been … well … more than somewhat estranged since the accident that killed Victor's mother and incinerated more than half his own body. Silas Stone was only too glad to front whatever funds were necessary to convert the Gordanian ship into a base of operations for the newly-formed team.

At first Robin wasn't the least bit eager to form ANY sort of team. He was used to working alone or under Batman's direction, and the thought of being responsible for the lives of four other … eh, he couldn't really call them anything else … four other _**heroes**_ worried him as he hadn't been worried in some time. But a long night of analyzing the strengths that the various teens brought to the table convinced him in the end that they might just be able to pull it off … assuming, of course, that they understood he would be the team leader. They didn't seem to have a problem with that.

For reasons he kept to himself, Beast Boy desperately wanted the team to work, and just as desperately wanted to be a part of it. The others knew next to nothing about the Doom Patrol, other than that they didn't like publicity, were constantly facing off with the Brotherhood of Evil, and two of them weren't precisely human. But the young fellow was almost (Robin thought) manic in his efforts to help everyone get along. It would have been nice if his _techniques_ were as well-developed as his _enthusiasm_.

Finally consenting (after some hounding by Beast Boy) to be a member of the team, Raven nonetheless made it very plain that she would require privacy for meditation, undisturbed and in large doses, unless they all wanted things to get very ugly very quickly. Not knowing anything about her other than that she could teleport, fly, and generate a quasi-telekinetic field of some sort, Robin had his share of qualms about the dark, seemingly emotionless girl. But she had been helpful (read: The Lone Voice of Reason) in his initial encounter with Starfire, and he didn't get any bad vibes off her.

Then there was Starfire herself. The alien presented him with an enigma. About certain things – Tamaranian cuisine, to take one example – she could be most voluble, explaining and extolling until the rest of them wished she would just _shut up already_. But about most others, especially topics related to her being on that Gordanian ship and here on Earth in the first place, she was notably reticent. She was also a **tremendous** help to Victor in his efforts to transform the derelict space cruiser. Her knowledge of alien tech kept him from blowing them all to their component subatomic particles more than once. And that was about all she had been doing since the previous Tuesday. By general agreement the five teens elected to stay in the ship during its conversion, to help them get to know each other and to learn how they might function more effectively as a team.

It wasn't a bad idea. Really. But, as teams go, this one got off to a rocky start …

The others could tell that Robin had never actually led anything before in his life. Alternately random and draconian in his orders, he initially seemed to have a hard time grasping that the others (with the possible exception of Raven) weren't mind readers. Learning how to make his directions clear and reasonable was a chore for him. But he did understand the importance of good communication, and threw himself into the task.

Victor (who eventually capitulated and allowed Robin to designate his "team ID" as Cyborg) was touchy about any number of things, flatly refusing to view his cybernetic systems in any sort of positive light – notwithstanding Beast Boy's constant encouragement otherwise – and jumping down Robin's throat more than once for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or phrasing a question a certain way.

Beast Boy would get on Raven's nerves with appalling regularity (actually, though they hadn't admitted it out loud, he also irritated the rest of them to one degree or another) which tended to drive her ever deeper into solitude.

Raven … well, the others really didn't know what to make of her. It was obvious that she had a lot of issues. She let slip on Friday that she'd been raised by some kind of monastic order, but wouldn't go into any detail. Beast Boy pestered her about it until finally she whipped around and presented him with a visage graced with four glowing red eyes and fangs that would rival any he could produce. He wasn't seen again until supper on Saturday.

Today, though …

"Robin?" Cyborg's voice echoed around the large chamber that was in the early stages of becoming their common room. "Yo, Robin!"

The teen in question rolled his office chair backward and stuck his head out of the door of the glorified closet that was currently serving as the surveillance nerve center. "Yeah? What's up?"

"Where's Starfire?"

The masked brow furrowed slightly. "How would I know?"

"Pleeeease. Two of ya are practically joined at the hip. She's always hangin' around you."

_Yeah, asking weird questions and making weird comments._ He shrugged. "I dunno. Why, what's wrong?"

"Nothin' wrong. Yet, anyway. I need her to take a look at the quaternary neutrino collector in the lower auxiliary …"

"Fine, fine, whatever." He glanced at his watch. "That's funny, though. It's almost supper time, and she's usually Johnny-on-the-spot when there's food involved." Under his breath he murmured, "Girl eats more than any two _linebackers_ ought to. Must be a heck of a metabolism to allow her to keep that figure."

As if on cue, a green swift flew into the room, circled Cyborg once, and landed by the kitchen entrance, morphing instantly into Beast Boy. "Hey, guys!" He sniffed the air. "Nobody started supper? Cool! I'll handle it."

"Oh, hell, no!" objected Cyborg. "Yesterday you tried to pawn off that tofu crap as real food." He strode over to the smaller boy. "You go peddle yer papers. I got this."

"Aw, come on, Cy! You know I can't eat meat!"

"I know you _**won't**_ eat meat. There's a big difference." He rummaged through the refrigerator and pulled out most of a ham. Then he looked through a few cabinets and lined up several more items. "Right, here we go. I'll whip up a ham an' cheese an' pineapple casserole. Won't take half an hour."

"Bleah!"

"Hey, you want somethin' else, fix it when I'm done here. I'll have the pan in the oven in ten. Maybe sooner."

The green teen slumped over and sat at the table. "You didn't even _**try**_ my barbecued tofu."

"Yeah, an' I don't have to try a poke in the eye with a sharp stick to know I don't like _**that**_ either."

An inky black pool formed on the floor about a meter behind Beast Boy, and Raven floated up out of it. "Ah, I see supper is …" she began.

Beast Boy shrieked and fell off his chair, coming up on the other side of the table as a gorilla. Seeing that the interloper was only Raven didn't help much. He switched back to human and said, "Don't _**do**_ that!"

Projecting the very soul of innocence, she intoned, "Do what?"

"Hey, Raven," interrupted Robin, "you have any idea where Starfire is?"

The dark girl closed her eyes and concentrated … then the indigo orbs flew open wide. "Um …"

Robin caught the change in demeanor and stepped forward. "She's not in trouble, is she?"

"… Trouble? No. Decidedly not." She floated upward and phased through the ceiling.

Beast Boy scratched his head. "How does she _**do**_ that?"

Cyborg and Robin looked at each other, then glanced upward. The older teen said, "Casserole can wait." He trotted toward the elevator with Robin close behind.

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When they got to the roof, it was to find Raven floating at the edge of the metal, staring upward. They followed her gaze.

Starfire was probably some two hundred meters up, and was turning long, slow loops and figure-eights in the evening sky.

"She's so … happy."

The boys looked over at Raven, and Robin cleared his throat. "Excuse me?"

Turning her shining gaze to them, she continued, "Ever since she decided to become a part of our … group? team? whatever? … she's been very restrained."

"Well, yeah. New world. New customs. New language, although that didn't seem to present her much of a problem."

"It's more than that."

"I know, I know. The whole melding-with-the-team thing is hard on some people."

"No. You aren't seeing my point. She is … different today. She has been sad, up until now." She looked back at the flying girl. "The sad is gone. None of those things you mentioned has changed. But now she is … no, _happy_ doesn't do it justice. She's ecstatic."

"About what?"

"I think I will go find out." So saying, she rose to join the other girl.

A green falcon zipped up over the edge of the roof and landed beside Cyborg, morphing into their youngest teammate. "Hey, what's goin' on?" Then his eyes got big and he whispered, "Whoa!"

"What?" asked Robin.

Beast Boy pointed west. "Cool sunset."

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Raven came up even with Starfire. The alien noticed her immediately and swooped in suddenly, grabbing her in a rib-cracking hug. "Friend! Is it not glorious?"

After a couple of seconds to regain her bearings, Raven phased out of the vice-like embrace and floated back a few meters. "Hurrk … yeah." She cleared her throat and rubbed her chest. "Glorious? What, precisely, is glorious?"

Flinging her arms wide and ramping up her "happy vibes" until Raven had to weave a mental shield against them, the red-haired girl exclaimed, "The sky! Such colors! Such … majesty! It is … it is …" And then, since words really did fail her, she simply spun in place.

Raven turned west and observed the setting sun. Clouds weren't all that common in Jump City at this time of year, and she wouldn't have noticed them in any case, but she had to admit that the current display really was quite spectacular. Cumulus clouds surrounded the sun as it dipped into the ocean. Deep reds faded into pink, pink into coral, coral into magenta to the south and bright lines of gold across the tops of the massy clouds to the north. Overhead, and extending to the horizon, a speckling of cirrocumulus threw bright pink scales against the deepening blue. She cocked an eye back at the alien, who was swooshing slowly back and forth, staring blissfully into the distance and humming to herself. "Yes. It is … lovely. But, if I may ask, what is special about this particular sunset?"

"Oh, you have a name for this? Glorious!"

_She certainly seems fond of that word._ "Ah … yes. Do … do you not have sunsets on Tamaran?"

Stopping a moment to frown in thought, Starfire finally said, "Well, obviously we must. But our world is … very different from Earth. We do not have oceans. We do not …"

"… You mean Tamaran is dry? How do you survive with no water?"

"Oh, we have water. But most of it is … not visible? Under the top of the ground?"

"You mean subterranean?"

"Yes! That is a good word. The water is locked into caves and vast _**subterranean**_ reservoirs." She grinned at the feel of the word on her tongue. "Our air is usually quite full of the dust. Most of the time the sun is only really visible in the middle of the day. As night approaches, the … ambient? Yes, that is the word. The ambient light simply dims and goes out." She stretched her arms again, as if to embrace the sky, and shouted, "This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life!" Zipping around behind Raven, she gave the shorter girl another hug (not as emphatic as the first one) and asked, "How often does this happen?"

"Um … uh …" Raven tried tactfully to extricate herself for a moment. "… That is, it, uh, happens not infrequently."

Starfire released her and whizzed back around to face her. "More than once in a year?"

"Oh … certainly." All this hugging was playing havoc with Raven's control. Physical contact multiplied the empathic leakage several times, and maintaining enough concentration to stay aloft was taking all her power. She backed away a few meters. "During certain times of the year it can happen every evening."

The green-eyed girl looked like she was about to explode with glee. "You mean I can see this _**every day**_?"

"It is likely. Especially since you can fly, you shouldn't have any trouble gaining enough altitude to monitor the sunset each evening. Now, it won't usually be quite as stunning as this one, but occasionally there should be one even more colorful."

Performing that high-speed spin again, Starfire gave vent to a long "squeeeeeeee" and then rushed up to Raven, grabbing her by the forearms. "Raven! You must bring them!"

_Blink-blink._ "Bring who?"

"The others! Robin and Beast Boy and Cyborg! They must see this!"

"I'm pretty sure they can see it just fine from the roof." And she pointed down.

With a gasp of delight and another squeal, Starfire fell like a meteor toward the small group below. The three of them scattered at her rapid approach, but she pulled a sudden stop and landed gently, facing west. "Yes! Yes, it is quite easily visible! Look!" She turned to the boys, pointing. "Look at the set of the sun!"

Beast Boy loped over and thudded to a stop beside her. "I know, right? Totally cool."

She frowned briefly at his usage, but then brightened. "It is the slang, yes? You do not mean that the set of the sun has a low temperature, correct?"

"Uh, yeah. Right."

"Will you watch the colors with me?"

He shrugged. "Sure. I'd love to."

Catching the others' attention, she asked, "Cyborg? And Robin? Will you watch as well? It is most glorious!"

Victor stepped over and trained his gaze on the shifting colors. The magenta was becoming more pronounced, the gold lining of the clouds more muted. "Sure thing, little lady. Don't take enough time to stop and appreciate stuff like this. Glad you noticed it."

Those lucent green eyes turned to Robin, whose collar, for reasons he didn't feel like exploring, suddenly felt a bit too tight. "Robin? Will you stay?"

"Uh … I, uh … that is, I mean …"

"He'll stay," Raven's monotone carried well in the clear air as she floated down next to Starfire. And the look she sent Robin's way brooked no dissension. "He needs a break."

"Um, sure. Yeah, Starfire, I'll be, uh, happy to watch the sunset with … uh … yeah."

Her answering smile (rated conservatively at several kilowatts) let him know he'd made the right decision.

Making themselves comfortable, the five teens sat and admired the view until the stars appeared (the odd growling stomach notwithstanding).

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_Next up: Starfire discovers the ocean!_

_(Remember, as a wise fanfic author once said, Reviews = Love.)_


	2. Hunger

**A New World**

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_Disclaimer: I failed to put this in at the first chapter, but (just as with all my other stories) I have no fiscal or remunerative claims to the Teen Titans in any way, shape, form, or fashion. So there._

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**Chapter Two: Hunger**

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The halls in Titans' Tower were by no means narrow. Mr. Silas Stone had spared no expense in the construction of the odd building; Victor also spent rather a long time trying to come up with various unpleasant scenarios that might take place there, and then designed the physical plant to aid in their defense. Plus, he knew that they might have to lug large pieces of equipment around from time to time. So the passages snaking through the Tower were spacious, especially at the junctions.

What that meant for Starfire was that she could fly around in the building without much trouble and without it being a hazard to the others. Most of the time.

The doors to the Ops Room sensed her approach and _fwished_ open, allowing her free access, which she appreciated. For that matter, they all liked that aspect of the place, and congratulated Cyborg frequently on his penchant for innovation. The only time it was a problem was when two of them were approaching the same door simultaneously from opposite directions. Each would be expecting it to open, and perhaps not paying _**quite**_ enough attention to what was waiting on the other side.

That was Beast Boy's situation. So when Starfire swooped into the room, nearly taking his head off, he could be forgiven a sudden … um … overreaction.

She made a tight U-turn in the air and landed beside him, taking in the mess: he'd been carrying a large bowl of something sort of off-white-and-brown, and was now wearing most of it; the bowl was upside-down across his knees. "Oh! I am so sorry, Friend! Please, allow me to acquire a cloth of washing and I will aid you in the getting of clean."

The green teen blinked at her, then looked down at himself and chuckled. "Don't worry about it, Starfire. Gimme a sec." He frowned briefly in thought, then transformed into a tiny insect. Most of the varicolored goo slumped into a puddle on the floor. Gar spent a few seconds cleaning himself off with his many legs, then flew up a meter or so, buzzed over next to the alien, and morphed back into his human form. He gazed sadly at the mess. "Shame about the pudding, though."

"Pudding!? You have made a _**pudding?**_ What variety? What does it signify? What are we doing the celebrating of?"

He was a bit taken aback by her sudden enthusiasm, but recovered quickly. After all, the team members were (to greater or lesser degree) slowly getting used to the effusive girl's intensity where emotions were concerned. One dark green eyebrow rose. "Celebrating?"

"Oh, indeed! It might be a Pudding of Gorlarlanor, for this is the correct season … except it is the wrong color, and you left out the _speth_ mites. Or …"

He turned slightly pale. "… Mites? As in, bugs?"

"Well … that is the best translation I can formulate, given the deficiencies in nomenclature. They are _akil speth larla_ … similar to certain wingless parasitical creatures on this planet. Except larger. Much, much larger, and with a great many eyes, and poisonous barbs on its head which contribute to the tangy nature of the dish. It does not take very many to make one Pudding."

"… Great." He wrestled _**that**_ mental image back into its hole and nailed the door shut, then swallowed and said, "My pudding wasn't for any … uh, celebration. Not officially. It's just something I hadn't tried before. I got a delivery of tofu and wanted to see if I could duplicate this recipe and …"

"Oh!" She clapped her hands. "I see! You are doing the surprising of us with a new dish! How exciting!"

_It'll be exciting if I can get Cyborg to try it_, ran through his mind. He responded, "I don't know as I'd call it a surprise, exactly. Just … sort of an experiment."

Robin seemed to materialize next to them. "What's an experiment?"

Beast Boy _**eeped!**_ and jumped away a step. "Blast it, Robin! Make some noise when you walk!"

The other teen shrugged. "Force of habit. I don't like to alert the bad guys to my presence with stomping or squeaky shoes."

"That is a most wise tactic, Robin," put in Starfire. "Then the evil-doers may be destroyed without exposing yourself to injury."

"Ah … well … captured. Not destroyed."

"… Captured?"

"Yes."

"_**Not**_ destroyed?"

"No. The powers that be frown on that, and besides, heroes don't go around randomly squashing bad guys like so many bugs."

"… No?"

"Of course not. It just isn't done."

Under her breath, in Tamaranian, she muttered, "_Of course not?_ What is 'of course' about it? Truly this is a most convolutedly strange world."

"I beg your pardon?"

Her gaze jerked back to his. "What?"

"I didn't catch that."

"I am sorry. I was just … _(she had a sudden insight that arguing for the sagacity of killing evil-doers out of hand might not go over too well at present)_ … I was adjusting my vocabulary. While I gained a basic knowledge of your language of English from our first contact, the subtleties of the speech of the days is many times hidden. This I must learn from experience."

"Oh, right. Sure. Makes sense." Mention of their 'first contact' led to Robin fighting down a blush. To cover it, he gestured to the congealing mass on the floor. "What's all this, then?"

Sadly, Beast Boy answered, "My tofu-date-pecan pudding."

Robin gave him a slightly queasy look as he backed away to leave. "And it ended up on the floor. Um … terrible shame, that."

"Yeah. Can't even give it to the soup kitchen now."

Starfire stared around the room. "We have a kitchen dedicated solely to the production of soup? Where is it?"

With an indulgent chuckle, Beast Boy shook his head. "Not us. The United Way." When that produced an even more intensely confused look on her face, he said, "Let's get a mop or two and get this cleaned up, and I'll tell you about it."

"I think that would be the most kind of you." She followed him to the kitchen, where they rummaged for a minute and finally produced a mop, a dust pan and a squeegee. Beast Boy also grabbed the garbage pail, and shortly they were engaged in trying to find the floor under the sticky mess.

"See, there's this charity organization. Actually there are a lot of 'em. But this local one that runs the soup kitchen is part of the United Way, which is … kinda like a coordinator or maybe a clearinghouse for a bunch of smaller charities."

"Please … what is 'a charity'? I understand that the word means the capacity for giving aid to another, but the context of your explanation does not fit very well."

"Uh, well .. okay, if you've got a group of people who see a need in the community, and they want to get together to do something about it, a lot of times they'll form an organization to do it. Like … okay, like when Councilwoman Majors died from breast cancer last year, and they created a public fund in memory of her, and all donations go to breast cancer research. Something like that."

Starfire frowned again. "Please … what is cancer?"

He looked at her in shock. "You don't … wait … do Tamaranians not get cancer?"

"This word is in my vocabulary, but it does not say anything to me. Is cancer a … oh, what is the related concept? Is it a sickness?"

"Yeah, it is, a really bad one. A lot of kinds of cancer are just plain fatal. I guess all of them are if you don't get treatment."

"I see." She mulled that over for a minute. "There are many such concepts that I picked up from Robin with his language, but they have no analog in Tamaranian."

"… 'scuse me?"

"Let me think. Yes." She looked up and held his gaze. "The people of Earth seem to be subject to a great many illnesses. There are bacteria and viruses and tiny parasites that have laid waste to whole populations throughout your history, if my interpretation of this is correct."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"So. Malaria. Ebola. Cancer. Smallpox. Cholera." She grew very thoughtful. "Truly, this is a sad revelation."

He prompted her, "So do Tamaranians not get cancer? Like, ever?"

"This idea of 'disease' is not known among us, no. My impression is that our … immune systems? Yes. Our immune systems have much more of the robust than the immune systems of humans. The only times I have known of one of my people to do the becoming of ill was when someone else poisoned him."

That brought on an almost comical gawk. "Seriously? You guys, like, never get sick?"

"I have never developed any such debilitating illness that would be similar to what seems to be quite the common thing on Earth."

"Wow. I wonder if our medical research types would be able to figure out your secret?"

"That, I do not know. I would suspect that it has more to do with the extremely harsh environment of our home. Earth is a much more … hospitable planet. Perhaps there is a greater variety of ecological niches, and the … germs? Yes, that is the common term for microorganisms. The germs developed to take advantage of it."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So then a 'charity' is a group of people who band together to … fight disease?"

"Oh, not just diseases. Heck, not _usually_ diseases. The soup kitchen we talked about? They feed the hungry and homeless."

The look she gave him then was even more mystified than the one she had used when asking about cancer. "What do you mean?"

"You know. People down on their luck, lost their jobs, lost their houses. Living in homeless shelters, or even on the streets. They don't have any way to buy food, so the soup kitchen was set up to keep them from starving."

She was having a lot of trouble wrapping her brain around this concept. "Please, Beast Boy … is this one of the 'jokes' that you are fond of? You are … 'pulling the prank' on me? Yes?"

"Uh … no? What do you mean? Joke about what?"

"Are you being the totally serious? You have … there are people … in this city … with no home?"

"Well, yeah. Jump City's pretty big. Any big city is gonna have its share of the down-and-out crowd. We're no different."

"But … but, why?"

"Uh … why, what?"

"Why are there homeless people? People without jobs, without a place in your culture? How can this be?"

"Well, hey, I don't know about how they run things where you come from, but here bad things happen sometimes. Maybe a company goes out of business and all the people who worked there suddenly find themselves out of work. Maybe some of them can't find another job, and …"

"But how is that even possible?"

"Starfire, I gotta tell ya … I'm not following this. Most people go through a rough patch or two in their lives. It just happens."

She was suddenly mad. "Are they not … oh, what is the word? Are they not trained?"

"Trained?"

"For their position in your society. Surely you do not mean to say to me that there are people on your planet who have not been trained to do the contributing to society! Please tell me this is not the truth!"

He blinked and took a step back. An angry Starfire was more than a little intimidating. "Um … well … see, not everyone has that kind of opportunity, you know? Most people who can afford it will go to college, but even that's no kind of guarantee that they'll be able to find a job."

"You speak of this 'finding of a job' as if it is a mystery! How is it possible that your society is so … so … by X'Hal, what is the word? Ah, so _**haphazard**_ as to be organized so poorly that there are not places for everyone?" She paused, looking slightly pleased. "Yes. Haphazard. A good word. It means the same as _zelg'lekteg_. The concepts are identical. I do not usually find that to be the case in translation." Then her features steeled again. "An examination of certain related concepts in your language shows me that my fears are true." She shook her head and looked away. "I had thought the Earth to be more of the advanced than that. But it is not so."

Beast Boy didn't know how to respond to that. He was a little affronted by her obvious dismissal.

"So. Malnutrition. Starvation. Hunger. These are not the concepts of the abstract? They are daily situations that many of your people must confront?"

"Um … yeah. But that's why we've got the soup kitchens and subsidized housing and free medical clinics and …"

"But you are …" she was shouting now, "you are flailing at the vines and leaves!"

"… Sorry?"

"Wait." She thought furiously, then gave a sharp nod. "That is the wording. You are striking at the twigs of the problem when you should be digging at the roots."

"What do you mean?"

"You have too many people for the available work. That is why they cannot be the employed. It is very poor planning on the part of your government."

"Well, it's not like we can just keep people from having kids!"

Giving him a bemused stare punctuated by a raised eyebrow, she asked, "Why can you not?"

"Because … because … well, you just can't! Humans are going to make little humans. That's just the way it is."

"Wait." She paused again, closed her eyes, and mumbled to herself for a minute. "I see. So. Fertility. Freedom. Reproduction. These are essentially separate from the general rule of government." She nodded and mused, "Although I do not believe I would state it so. Freedom must always assume a measure of responsibility for the actions that one takes. What you have here, in your culture, does not seem to carry the same level of … no, the word is not 'culpability'. Maybe 'obligation'? Yes, that will do. On Tamaran, one must have the king's permission to do the procreating, and …"

"Hold on just a tic! You mean to say you can't have kids without the government's say-so? That's crazy!"

"What is the 'crazy' is this uncontrolled reproduction. We have the _**obligation**_ not to burden society with citizens who cannot contribute. Here, you have a portion of the population that cannot support itself and … yes, it constitutes a drain of resources for the rest, this is true? This is what you mean by 'charity', I think."

"But … but, Star, it's not their fault!"

"I did not mean to do the implying that it was. Indeed, it is not. It is the fault of the government for allowing it to happen."

He barked a short laugh. "Yeah, just try getting _**that**_ one through Congress! If the voters thought the government wanted to tell them whether or not they could have kids, they'd clean out both Houses, and the politicians know it."

She considered this state of affairs silently. Beast Boy didn't interrupt, instead going back to cleaning up the spill. After half a minute, Starfire knelt and helped him. She didn't say anything else until they had finished. "Beast Boy?"

"Yeah?"

"You have given me much to ponder. The differences between Tamaran and Earth are much more of the profound than I had imagined."

"I guess so." He hesitated, then asked, "Does that mean you're gonna leave?"

"_**What?!**_"

"Um … well, you know, if we're so backward and all that you …"

"No! Oh, no, my Friend! I have not the intention _**at all**_ of departing Earth! It is a glorious place!"

"Oh. Okay. Good. But I thought …"

She grabbed his hands, her eyes sparkling. "No! I believe I have done the figuring of it out! It is because of the disease."

"… You lost me again."

"Do you not see? It is the very obvious! Because of the many, many diseases that plague humans, they must reproduce at a furious rate because if they do not, the race may die out! Is this not the truth?"

"Uh … well …"

"And so it is derived from evolutionary pressures! It is not such a wonder to me, then, that humans are so very driven to reproduce. It must be a part of your very … oh, what is the term? Genes? Wait … Ah! Your genetic makeup." She thought for a second. "_**That**_ is what that means! Deoxyribonucleic acid! Of course!" She released his hands and zoomed around the room in the ecstasy of discovery. Landing again, she turned suddenly serious. "This gives us the large problem, though, does it not?"

"… What problem would that be?"

"Hunger, of course! The soup kitchen? This is the place that feeds the hungry people?"

"Yeah. So?"

"We must make the very sure that the soup kitchen does not run out of food. If humans have to be always about the making of surplus humans, so that there is a stock from which to draw when plague wipes you out, then it is important that they be as healthy and not-hungry as possible, yes? It is the very simple."

"… If you say so."

"Then we will go and collect the food for them! They are a charity, yes?"

"Yes." The word was breathed with a small sigh of relief. That was the first question in a while he felt completely sure he could answer without screwing it up.

"And the charity must be supplied with donations of food, yes?"

"Absolutely."

"We will do this thing!"

"Um … sure?"

"Glorious! Let us go and find the others and share this plan." She grabbed his arm and zipped off down the corridor.

_Plan? Wait, what plan? Who said anything about a plan? Aighhh!_ He didn't quite smack into the wall as they tore around that first corner.

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_A/N: Boy, some of the differences are a little less subtle than others, aren't they?_

_Let me know what you think!_

_Concolor_


	3. Ocean

A New World

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_Disclaimer:  
Titans = Not Mine. (therefore…)  
Titan-Derived Income = Not Possible. (again, therefore…)  
Sue For Copyright Infringement = Not True._

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Chapter Three: Ocean

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Most places in the rapidly-forming Titans' Tower were filled recently with the sounds of construction. Crews from S.T.A.R. Labs and private contractors were in and out constantly, from dawn until well after dark each day, and Victor Stone had a yeoman's job of coordinating all of it, Starfire's able help notwithstanding. Today, though, Robin had decided that they should all take a break and give their brand-spankin'-new Training Area #1 a try.

"Okay …" He looked around at the other four teens, tapping a foot while thinking. "Let's try this: Cyborg and Beast Boy will take offense and the rest of us will take defense."

Raising an objection, Raven said, "If all you want is defense, I think I can manage that on my own."

"… What do you mean?"

A dome of black energy sprang into being around them. "I have a reasonably good idea of how much power Cyborg can generate. My shield can handle several times that much." Giving a very slight one-shouldered shrug as the dome vanished, she added, "Simple defense isn't an issue."

"But what about my attacks?" asked Beast Boy.

She sent him an arched brow. "… Seriously?"

He slunk away a few steps, pouting.

"Fine," snapped Robin. "Starfire, _**you**_ take offense. Cyborg and Beast Boy will be on defense. Raven and I will observe the first round, and we'll critique the results."

Starfire, obviously very nervous, eyed the waves lapping the shore some twenty-five or thirty meters away. "Is this not a … an odd place … for a training facility?"

Robin's confusion was apparent. "Odd? No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Then … is it perhaps that the training is to keep us … alert? For an attack from multiple directions?"

"… I'm not following you."

Gesturing with a slim hand, she encompassed the nearby shore. "The ocean."

The other three Titans had approached by this time. Beast Boy asked, "What about the ocean?"

Seeing their plain misunderstanding, she frowned and admitted, "Perhaps this is another Earthly difference, yes?"

Everyone's puzzlement prompted her to continue, "It is the ocean. My home does not have such copious amounts of liquid."

"Oh. Right. Well, yeah, you said that before."

"I have been to another world that was largely covered in water. The native people there also referred to it as 'Earth', but in their language it was pronounced 'Pohl'. Less than ten percent of the surface was above the level of the sea."

"Whoa!" said Beast Boy, "that's a lot of water!"

"Yes. And it posed much danger and the people who lived on the land did the staying very far away from it most of the time." Gesturing again at the water, she said, "Are there no large and inimical creatures in your ocean?"

Robin scratched the back of his head. "Uh … I guess that would depend on what you mean by 'inimical'."

"And 'large'," added Beast Boy. "There _**are**_ some dangerous creatures some places in the ocean, sure, but not so much around here."

Cyborg asked, "Haven't you seen the beach over by the waterfront? The arcade pier?"

"I … I have not been away from the Tower since we moved into it several days ago. I was only out in Jump City that first night I arrived, and I …" She then blushed (very prettily, Robin thought) as she recalled some of those incidents. "I, ah, did not see this 'pier of the arcade'. Wait …" Thinking furiously for a minute, she asked, "Arcade. Is the arcade a place of amusement?"

"Oh, yeah! They got a few rides, one of 'em a slammin' coaster, an' a water park besides the beach, an' at least a hundred games an' …"

"Skiing!"

He stopped with a blank look. "Um … no, I don't think they have …"

"It is another word that Robin gave me! Skiing is to be performed on the water! This is true, is it not?"

"Oh. Yeah, water-skiing. They do that out in the bay."

"Now I believe I understand." Tapping a finger against her lips for a moment, she followed that up with, "Diving. Swimming. SCUBA gear. Wet suit. All of these things have to do with humans entering the water, correct?"

"You bet!" Chuckling ruefully, he glanced down at his metallic form. "Not that I can do that anymore. I sink like a rock."

"But you are sure that there are no … oh, the word of Pohl is _veleg't_ … there does not seem to be a direct translation. Inimical creatures of the sea?"

"Sea monsters?" prompted Victor.

"Kraken?" suggested Robin.

"Hagfish?" piped Beast Boy. When the others looked at him, he said, "What? It's the nastiest thing in the water! You ever get that slime on you, you'll know what I mean!"

"But," countered Starfire, "is not the Kraken a beast of myth?"

"Well, yeah. I was just trying to come up with something that could stand in for the … _velet_?"

"_Veleg't_. It is a creature, very common on Pohl, that lies in wait in shallow water and snatches land beings if they get too close. I … I was a witness to … such an event."

The others all got a chill. Robin cleared his throat and said, "So you got a look at it?"

"I saw only the … leg? tentacle? Appendage. It was thin and nearly transparent. I learned later that the beast is almost totally invisible when in the water. The _veleg't_ is … perhaps twenty meters long, but it can stretch about that much longer. It is quite flexible. But the … appendage of attack has a very sharp barb at the end, and may be employed so quickly that the avoiding of the strike cannot be accomplished under normal conditions. I happened to be … standing beside and … talking with …" She swallowed a couple of times. "It impaled the Pohlian and pulled her into the water in less than a second." She glanced again at the ocean, rubbing her arm nervously.

Robin and Cyborg exchanged a quick look. Beast Boy appeared to be getting a little queasy. Raven … was Raven.

"I was … very startled … and flew up out of its range as quickly as I could. Then I … flew back to our ship in orbit, and … I did not go down to Pohl anymore."

"Starfire," said Robin, stepping up next to her, "I'm sorry you had to see that happen. And I'm not going to say that there aren't beasts in the ocean that are dangerous, but I'm _sure_ there aren't any like _**that!**_ Sharks are probably the most dangerous thing you'll run into, and even they don't usually attack humans."

"So … the diving and the swimming … these are normal activities that the normal human would undertake?"

"Sure!"

Beast Boy interjected, "Hey, why don't we go over to the beach? Then she could see for herself!"

Nodding in agreement, Robin answered, "That's a fine idea. We'll all go."

"You four can go," said Raven in that gravelly monotone. "I don't '**do**' the beach." And she melted into a puddle of blackness and vanished.

"… Okay, fine, the _four_ of us can go.

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"Starfire? You're sure you don't need a rebreather? Not even a snorkel?"

"Tamaranians can … hold the breath? We can operate without air for a very long time, which is the way we do the traveling between stars. We keep the oxygen in our tissues, and combine it with solar energy and … um, I believe this may be very different from the way it is done in humans." She shook her head decisively, declining the equipment that Robin held. "But though I thank you for the offer, I will not need a separate air supply for the very brief time we will be in the water."

She still seemed wary of the idea, even after watching all the beach-goers cavorting in the surf, her previous experience with the Pohlian creature having obviously made a lasting impression.

Several questions about standard beach-worthy attire popped up next. The various bikinis in sight easily made it onto her Approved List, but then she was distressed because she didn't own one. Beast Boy was quick to point out that there were a few retail establishments clustered around the pier that doubtless carried such articles, and she flew off to investigate his claims. This left the three boys at loose ends for a double-handful of minutes, but when she came back they all decided it was worth the wait. The pale-yellow-and-black-striped lacy string confection served only to accentuate the positive where her curves were concerned, and Robin worked a finger around his collar in an attempt to cool off. Beast Boy morphed into a wolf and gave a long howl, startling Starfire.

"Why did you do that? Have I done the wrong thing with this bikini suit of swimming?"

"Oh, heck, no!" he answered, once he'd resumed his human form. "Star, you look great! You look like a model!"

"… A model of what?"

"Don't worry about it, little lady," put in Victor, "he just means you're tight." Seeing her confusion at the slang term, he amended, "He means it looks good on you. And it does."

That pulled a bright smile onto her face. Twirling deftly toward Robin, she asked, "Do you also think the bikini suit of swimming looks acceptable?"

He cleared his throat, then had to deal with a short fit of coughing, but finally managed to squeak out, "Yeah. Looks … good. Really."

"Glorious!" Then she sized up the boys. "You will need also the suit of swimming. But not, I think, a bikini."

"I brought mine," explained Robin, holding up a bundle of cloth in one fist.

"I don't need one," said Beast Boy. When they all gave him a look, he held up his hands and shrugged. "I'll just morph into a dolphin. No big."

And shortly they were wading into the surf.

"It's cold!"

"Yeah," Robin agreed. "It's the Pacific Ocean. Except in high summer, the water's pretty cool. Don't worry, you get used to it." He affixed his breathing unit and dove forward into the clear water. Hesitantly, and with a couple of false starts, Starfire followed him, giving out a tiny scream when Beast Boy, in the form of a cormorant, sliced into the waves just ahead of her. But then she blew a wisp of hair out of her face, steeled her resolve, and went under.

It took a moment to get her bearings, but she found that she could see reasonably well … well enough to spot Robin waving at her. Flying was, if anything, even easier under water, and she soon grew accustomed to the additional buoyancy. Robin swam rapidly out away from land. With growing confidence, she followed.

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"Amazing! That is what it is! Glorious and amazing! Beautiful and glorious and amazing and … and … and amazing!"

The boys looked on in amusement (and several bystanders looked on in awe) as she turned rapid circles in the air. Cyborg took a long pull on his chocolate-cinnamon milkshake and said, "So I guess you liked it okay."

"It is … it is almost as wonderful as the setting of sun! No, wait … it is … different. But just as wonderful!" She hugged herself and zipped around their table. "When may we do the swimming again?"

"Well, you know," remarked Robin, "we do live on an island."

The realization made her eyes sparkle. "We do. Yes! We do! And it is permissible to do this in those waters?"

"Absolutely."

Beast Boy volunteered, "I'll tag along if you don't mind. I need to learn who's who down there, too."

"A great idea," observed Robin, nodding in approval. "As long as we don't have something else that really needs your attention, if you want to swim every day, I have no objection."

She flew down and grabbed him in a bone-bending hug, streaking back up into the clear sky and whirling him around. "Yes! This is most gladsome news! A glorious day, is it not?"

He would have agreed with her, had he been able to breathe.

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_A/N: _

_Any of you who have spent any time at all in the ocean may know what Star means when she gets all ecstatic about swimming there. If you haven't spent any time in the ocean … well, what are you waiting for?_

_Reviews = Love._

_Concolor_


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